this morning on "early today," korean clash, tensions ride high as the navies of north and south korea exchange fire. brush with death. dramatic video shows a woman falling into the path of an oncoming train. and, remembering the fall. germans celebrate the 20th anniversary of what started their country's historic reunification. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and good morning, everyone. i'm dan kloeffler.

and today we begin with the hot cold war in the latest flash point marking decades of hostilities. north and south korea reportedly exchanged naval gunfire this morning along their disputed sea border. the south korean military says it fired warning shots after a vessel crossed into that disputed area. the north then returned fire, and the south responded inflicting heavy damage on the northern ship before it retreed. south korea says its crew wasn't hurt. it is still, though, unclear if the north korean crew suffered casualties. and the washington post is reporting that last week president obama authorized a new direct meeting with pyongyang. the white house is dispatching a senior diplomat to the country in hopes of jump starting multinational talks over north korea's nuclear program three american hikers who strayed into iranian territory last summer from neighboring iraq have been charged by an iranian prosecutor with espionage.

the three have been detained since july when their family said they accidentally strayed across the border from iraq. the charges indicate tehran may plan to put the americans on trial and use them as political leverage in their ongoing stand-off with the west over iran's nuclear ambitions. iranian president ahmadinejad hopes he can convince them they were not spying, but says they deserve some punishment for entering the country illegally. today president obama will be one among many attending a memorial service at ft. hood in texas to remember the 13 people gunned down last week by a fellow soldier as nbc's jay gray reports, the day of mourning comes amid new information about the suspect. >> reporter: u.s. intelligence officials confirm they knew hasan exchanged e-mails with muslim cleric. authorities say the

american-born alawki is an american -- how can there be any dispute about the virtue he's done? law enforcement officials said it w not considered threatening. the army was apparently notified but no action was taken against hasan. >> we have learned now the suspected gunman is alert and talking but apparently to army investigators. >> i've advised appropriate military officials that no interviews, no interrogations should be conducted by law enforcement. >> reporter: army officials aren't talking about san or the investigation. many instead are focussed on the memorial for the victims as the shot begins to ware off here and the pain and grief sets? >> this is where i'm most concerned as a commander of ft. hood and that has to do with the

healing phase. >> reporter: the beginning of a long and difficult recovery here. jay gray, nbc news, ft. hood. now, here's a look at some of the other stories making news "early today" in america. a boston woman fell on the subway tracks as a train was barrelling into the station. surveillance cameras show that intoxicated woman stumbled right into the train pit. other passengers flailed their arms to alert the train operator. quickly heeded the warning and pulled the emergency brake. that train stopped just inches in front of the woman who escaped with her life and without injury. a violent fight broke out between two girls high school soccer teams. sparking members of both of the teams to throw punches and pull hair. a second fight broke out between fans during the awards ceremony. league officials are now investigating. a restaurant in new york celebrated its 55th anniversary with a massive seasonal staple.

serendipity three broke the record for the largest cup of hot chocolate serving up a four gallon treat. it required 12 pounds of cocoa powder and 8 quarts of heavy cream. a requirement for one architecture course in florida is nothing short of, well, walking on water. for 21 years, students at florida international university have needed to create shoes allowing them to skim along water getting -- safely reaching the other shore. some chug along, though. others just kind of swam. and now for a look at the national and regional weather, here's bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. >> good morning, dan. we're still talking about ida, but the storm is much weaker now and the impacts are mostly rain-related. good tuesday morning to you. you can see ida heading into and right on top of mobile bay just off the coast. all of the rain is to the north

of the storm. and that's mostly up through alabama and now through georgia and a little piece of it there in mississippi. now, here's the set-up. high pressure's building in through the great lakes over the next two days. and that's going to position itself over new england about two days from now. ida and all of the moisture is going to redevelop into a coastal storm near the carolinas and we're going to have quite the rain event in the carolinas and winds on the eastern sea board. even though ida's going to die off in the next day or two, we're going to have a significant rain event. today mississippi and alabama into georgia and tomorrow into the carolinas. so you can see the circulation center's down here. all of the heavy rain from montgomery up to atlanta. we are expecting significant rains in the next 48 hours. psibility of some areas getting up to 5 to 6 inches. and there's that next rain event as we go into your tuesday and also through your wednesday and thursday. so you get the picture. southeast wet, northeast and ohio valley dry. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. we're going to see partly cloudy

to mostly cloudy skies everywhere the east today, out ahead of our tropical system. up in new england to mid-atlantic and ohio valley. don't count on a lot of sunshine, but temperatures will be mild. well, we continue to watch this storm, it's going to be an interesting couple of days in the east. weather not going to be the best. >> thank you, bill. wall street soars, gold breaks the ceiling and swine flu hockey shots. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's the latest in what's become a long line of celebrities who have had intimate moments come back and slap them. college baskeall tips off, the chiefs are looking for a new running back, and the steelers buck the broncos. you're watching "early today."

good morning, everyone, and welcome back to "early today," i'm dan kloeffler, and here are

your top headlines this morning. in a televised interview monday, president obama said lawmakers need to change abortion restrictions and health care legislation passed this weekend by the house. an amendment in the bill would drastically restrict the availabily of coverage for abortions. that's something that many insurance plans now offer. the president said it's not the aim of health care reform to change the status quo on abortions. yesterday, the supreme court refused to intervene in tonight's planned excuse of the so-called d.c. sniper, john allen muhammad, scheduled to die by lethal injection. muhammad, the master mind of the 2002 shooting spree that left at least ten dead. in a study of women's health around the world, the world health organization said the leading cause of death in women 16 to 24 is the aids virus. the u.n. agency says 1 in 5 deaths among younger women is linked to unsafe sex.

and in berlin, thousands cheered on during the celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. 1,000 decorated dominos on the path where that barrier once to do were knocked over all in a symbolic moment to the end of communism in europe. now, here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day, jumping 223 points on monday. the s&p, that gained 23, the nasdaq, that climbed 41 points. taking a look at overseas trading. the niki leapt 61 points and the hang seng added 60 points. a group of 20 of the world's leaders got together to discuss the global economy over the weekend and what they did and didn't say spoke volumes to investors. confidence was high on wall street yesterday on news from the g-20 that world leaders intend to keep interest rates low all to boost the global economy. that gave investors a sense of security that sent stocks

soaring. however, what they didn't say was anything about the future of the dollar, which hit a 15-month low monday. some are concerned about the dollar's decreasing value against a basket of other currencies. others, though, think it's a good way to boost exports and profits on american-made goods. the dow hit a new high on the declining dollar. that sent commodities higher. gold hit an all-time high topping $1,100 while the price of o crude jumped $2 a barrel. chip makers got a boost on prediction of growth next year for that sector. shares in sprint nextel and clear wire. cadbury has once again rejected kraft's hostile takeover bid of $16 billion. calling it a "derisery offer." some cadbury shareholders are hinting if kraftere to sweeten the offer, they might accept. kraft's chief is holding firm

she won't overpay. google is betting stock that advertising will be the next big moneymaker. and finally, canadians may love their hockey and their hockey players, but it only goes so far. it was revealed players for the nhl's calgary flames and their families received swine flu shs one day before public clinics were closed because of a vaccine shortage. now, the worker who gave the team the special treatment has been fired. a big double double in the nba, and a one-time all star gets a fresh start in college coaching. plus, ben roethlisberger and the steelers hurdle over the broncos in monday night football. the big tuesday weather story continues to be tropical storm ida bringing heavy rain for the southeast. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. straight ahead on "news 4 today," it's john muhammad's execution day. what new evidence one juror says may have changed her mind. >> plus, a late season storm packs a punch. the latest on tropical storm ida. >> new efforts to protect kids from the swine flu. details of a clinic in prince george's county. the news starts at 4:55. we if you're waking up, this is "early today." in sports, after a tough start to the season, the pittsburgh steelers are suddenly starting to resemble last year's super bowl champs. here's fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. >> coming off the first loss of the season, the denver broncos

hoped to rebound against the steelers, t they had other ideas. they've been defined by their running game, roethlisberger changed that. his two touchdown receptions and pittsburgh up 14-10. escaped the pressure and through it dark to mike wallace for the touchdown. steelers scored 21 unanswered points in the second half. both teams are now 6-2. another nfl note, the chiefs have had enough of the antiques. released him two weeks after he posted a gay slur on his twitter county. johnson just 75 yards away as passing as the chief's all-time rusher. andre for 2 of the 24, tied it at 108. steve nash has been playing like th nash of old, 21 points and 20 assists. this one by richardson put the phoenix up for good. 119-115 win in philly. knicks and jazz, fourth quarter

down by 14, and that's when tony douglas started to take over. scored 9 of the 21 in the final frame, down two, five seconds to play, the knicks look to douglas one more time, but he couldn't get the leader to fall. the jazz hold on and beat the knicks 95-93. > college basketball, north carolina tarheels unveiled their latest championship banner against isiah thomas. forced the turnover, got it back, easy bucket, he had a game-high 20. this one well out of hand in the second, but check out john hensman. they won it 88-72. that's your earl look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> thank you, fred. some interesting if not downright strange casting on broadway and in hollywood. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, it helps to get an apache blessing before a long journey, especially if you're

about to become a national icon. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. we're continuing to track what's left of tropical storm ida. still has winds about 40 to 50 miles per hour. but we haven't seen many of those winds translate into the surface as it's moving near mobile and pensacola. heavy rain is spreading through

alabama and eventually it's all going to soak georgia. looks like a very wet day for you down in atlanta. and then by wednesday and thursday, all of that wet weather is going to hit the carolinas hard with a potential 3 to 6 inches of rain. a lot of that rain will not move into the ohio valley in new england over the next two days at least, mostly down here in the southeast. well, if you're watching us on wnbc 4 in new york, see the dazzling colors and hues from the rain forest at frogs, a chorus of color at the museum of natural history. now here's an early look at headlines in entertainment. by now, you'd think that every celebrity makes sure one thing never comes back to haunt them. and that thing, a sex tape. nevertheless, they keep oncoming. now, it's jennifer lopez. with the help of a judge, she temporarily prevented the release of footage she took on her husband with long ago first

husband johnnie noah. then there's several times over disgraced carrie prejean. last week she told fox that her sex tape was the biggest mistake of her life. stating the obvious maybe. elsewhere, ashley simpson who was not only fired from the cw's melrose place who was trashed afterwards, she's landed on broadway. in december she'll start a six-week stent in chicago. and gweneth paltrow has signed up to replace charlize theron in the "danish girl." she'll be playing the wife of nicole kidman playing the transsexual. so if you can keep all of that straight and who's playing who -- >> i'm upset about the ashley simpson thing. and i only saw one episode with her on it, i didn't think she was that bad. >> you're a fan are you?

>> no, my wife likes it. i thought she'd be horrible, but she wasn't that bad. >> and her sister was not very supportive of it. but now she's got a chance on broadway. >> chicago. >> yeah, i know. >> i it's a good role. >> not bad. this comes from channel 12 in phoenix, arizona, where a nearby alpine, an 85-foot blue spruce began that journey in the christmas display at the u.s. capital. blessed before being harvested. and this year's capital tree is the first to come from arizona and it's the tallest in history. once in d.c., it'll be adorned with 10,000 lights and 5,000 ornaments. long way across the country. >> and the tree comes this week to rockefeller right here. >> does it? >> already. >> we'll be keeping our eyes out for that. i'm dan kloeffler, and this is "early

4:54 is our time right now. 55 degrees outside. kind of a mild morning here in the nation's capital for the tenth day of november as we pull back from the lincoln memorial. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> welcome back, joe krebs. >> thank you. good to be back. >> i'm barbara harrison. we want to start things off as this morning as we always do with a look at weather and traffic. we begin with weather as we the always do. >> mostly cloudy as we welcome back joe krebs. starting off this morning with some rather cool temperates. it's in the low and mid-50s around the region. low 40s in the mountains. these clouds coming out of the southwest. getting a few showers down in the carolinas. looks like those may be moving in here by tomorrow. but for today, it will just be mostly cloudy, maybe a little weak sunshine in and out around the middle part of the day. highs mid-60s. barbara and joe? >> all right, tom. see you in about -- well, very soon. five minutes. >> before the blink of an eye.

let's go to jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. what's it look like very early on this tuesday? >> joe, welcome back. good morning, barbara and tom. good morning, everyone. looking at 395 northbound at the inbound 14th street bridge. light volume of traffic so far as we get under way. elsewhere out at the wilson bridge, no hang-ups. had a bunch of overnight road work on the outer loop of the beltway as you travel past i-66. that should be wrapping up. but the outer loop was actually closed for a short time so we'll keep you updated on that. back to you. >> thank you very much, jerry. >> thank you, jerry. >> here now is a look at some of the top stories happening today. john allen muhammad, one of the two d.c. snipers is scheduled to die by lethal inn ekings tonight. muhammad was convicted of killing dean meyers at a manassas gas station back in 2002. this was part of the mass shooting spree that terrorized the washington area and left ten people dead. >> tropical storm ida is making landfall this morning along the gulf coast.

that storm -- warnings are up for the tropical storm, it will cross louisiana, mississippi, alabama and florida. foreka forecasters could dump as much as ten inches of rain. >> young people in prince george's county can get the swine flu vaccine today. it will be held at the d. leonard dyer regional hlth center in clinton, maryland, from 6:30 to 8:30 tonight. >> former president bill clinton will be in d.c. toda he will be meeting senate democrats to talk about the health care legislation. officials say the former president is scheduled to speak during the democrats' weekly caucus. as president, clinton tried but veiled to revamp the nation's health care system. >> well, holding up traffic, running red lights and breaking the rules of the road. that's what d.c. mayor adrian fenty is doing while riding his bicycle throughout the city. >> now there are many people demanding answers as to why this is happening. news 4's tom sherwood has the story.

>> reporter: d.c. mayor adrian fenty drives himself all around town, doing without the extensive use of security cars previous mayors used. but fenty's go it alone approach apparently stops when it comes to the athletically inclined mayor's almost daily bike ride. here they take to the claire a barton parkway where the speed is 50 miles an hour and bikes are not permitted. wtop radio over several weeks detailed exclusive video the mayor has used with police escorts on bikes, even pedaling through stoplights, holding up traffic on narrow park ways, and using patrol motorcycles that are not part of his security detail, one of which waited one day for an hour for the mayor's party. when asked monday about the privileged bike riding and police escorts, fenty was dismissive. >> reporte >> can you justify the use of police for this, as well as the

bad habits of breaking some of the traffic laws? >> i don't have any additional comment. the chief always responds about the police department. >> reporter:hen after several minutes of back and forth with wtop and news 4, there was this about his privileged riding and blocking traffic. >> i guess most egregiously, riding on clara barton parkway whereby sick also are not permitted. >> i don't have any additional comment. thank you. >> you don't have any explanation for why you were braking the law? >> if i did, i shouldn't have. >> will you diss continue that practice? >> yes. >> reporter: the mayor stopped short of saying he had done anything improper. how much do you bike? >> as much as humanly possible and i wish i could get out more. >> earlier this year, the mayor found himself under fire for another athletic hobby. he admitted was a mistake to spend $75,000 to heat a city pool so that he could swim in it.